The Chazz

I think he will play 2011/2012, after that they will reassess. He has the talent, he hasn't had a full preseason for 2 years, and he is best friends with one Mr Jurrah. While it's not a great opinion for me to have, I think the club will keep him for another 2 years, if for nothing but keeping LJ settled. We have worse list cloggers than Aussie at the moment.

Melbourne are far from a top 8 side, so based on that theory Eth, Freo will win. They are a better team than us, and are at home.

No chance. I made the call a couple of weeks ago that we have already penciled in the games we will win for the rest of the year - this isn't one of them. If my theory is correct, I think we will see some interesting selections this week (maybe 2 or 3 that will raise our eyebrows). We will go in to the following week (which happens to be Sydney at the MCG) with a far better team than what we line up this Sunday. Bailey played it well in the media after yesterday's game, claiming that we will be going for more of a running team this week and there could be some changes. Just putting up a smokescreen for this weeks selections. Well played Bails!

Warnock has the potential to be a great full back for the MFC, but needs to really smarten up on his disposal. He turns it over far too much. His spoiling efforts are excellent, and I think he can play a huge part if or push for top 4, if he gets the above sorted.

I can understand the problem when a Brisbane game is on Foxtel, and they double it up on Free-to-Air as well. It creates interest in the "local" team, which gives the game more coverage in a Rugby League dominated state. I don't see the problem showing the game that "misses out" on the main event/518 channel on Austar/Foxtel. Today's games are Syd v Nth (1pm), Melb v Ess (2pm), Carl v WB (4pm). Channel 7 and Fox are sharing the 1st game, then Fox showing the twilight game. Channel 7 will be showing the V8's during our game, which is what they have to do because of the rights for that. There is absolutely NO EXCUSE for our game not to be on Channel 7, and if, because of TV rights for other sports, this clashes with something else, it should be on either Channel 7two, or Main Event. Again, the AFL need to be held responsible for this.

Not really sure of the purpose of this thread, and hopefully it wont turn it to ANOTHER J Watts thread! Mods, feel free to delete it if need be! While I was watching the Cats/Hawks, Lions/Saints games yesterday, there was a wealth of talent running around in all teams. The experienced stars of the Cats and Saints, some good kids from the Lions, and the standouts at the Hawks. On display yesterday were undoubtedly 3 of the best teams in the competition running around, and let's face it, it was pretty good to watch. It got me thinking about Melbourne's past couple of years, not necessarily on the park, but in the draft period. I was asking myself questions like "Have we picked the best available player", with the thought of fast-forwarding 2-10 years and sitting back watching them play, wondering if they will be that era's Ablett, Selwood, Bartell, Franklin, Hodge, Reiwoldt, etc, etc, etc! So, I decided to start this thread, with everyone welcome to put on our Recruiting Manager's cap, and knowing what we know now, who would you want us to pick? It is a fairly easy task as we have exposed form on a lot of these players, and it will be interesting to see which selections we nailed, and which ones we didn't! Nb - I have only included 1st round selections as most of the gun players that were running around yesterday were first round picks (with the odd exception); 2007 Matthew Kreuzer* Trent Cotchin* Chris Masten* Cale Morton Jarrad Grant David Myers Rhys Palmer Lachlan Henderson Ben McEvoy Patrick Dangerfield Patrick Veszpremi Cyril Rioli Brad Ebert Jack Grimes Robbie Tarrant Matthew Lobbe Harry Taylor * These players were taken before Melbourne had their first pick, therefore, we can't select these players as they weren't available. 2008 Jack Watts Nic Naitanui Stephen Hill Hamish Hartlett Michael Hurley Chris Yarran Daniel Rich Tyrone Vickery Jack Ziebell Phil Davis Steele Sidebottom Lewis Johnston Tom Lynch Ayce Cordy Mitchell Brown Ryan Schoenmakers 2009 Tom Scully Jack Trengove Dustin Martin Anthony Morabito Ben Cunnington Gary Rohan Brad Sheppard John Butcher Andrew Moore Jake Melksham Jordan Gysberts Kane Lucas Daniel Talia Lewis Jetta Christian Howard Jasper Pittard Daniel Menzel Looking at the last 3 years, I think our recruiting team have nailed it. In 2007, maybe I would have preferred Rioli or Dangerfield over Morton, or even take Grimes at 4, Harry Taylor at 14. Ok, 2008, well, I personally think we selected correctly. Of all the players that went in the first round of 2008, I still think we have the one with the most potential. Rich had a top year last year, but he reminds me a lot of Brock McLean where his best isn't much better than what we are seeing now (although still very handy). If BP had his time again, I still think J Watts would be the first called out. Maybe Hurley is more advanced, the $million question is "who will end up being the better player from that group". Time will tell. Brings us to the most recent draft. At this stage, we couldn't have chosen better. Martin is a star, but I think Tom and Jack will be better players for the MFC. At this stage, I'm glad we didn't pick Butcher (while I fully appreciate he will take a few years to show his worth), and I'm really happy we didn't pick Morabito (not in the same class as our 1 & 2). That leads me to Gysberts at 11, well, the only option here would have been Lewis Jetta. Based on exposed form, am I happy with the Gysberts choice? If BP had his time again, I think he would snap Gysberts up quick smart. It's always easy to question how we let such and such player slip, or we should have chosen this player instead of that player, but when you sit down and work out if that player was available when we had a pick, a majority of the time they weren't, or we picked a better player earlier in the draft. There will always be "that" player that gets picked up late and becomes top quality, but as I said earlier, a majority o the star players running around for the good clubs are picked up in the first round. Nb. The above list doesn't include Preseason Drafts or Rookie Drafts during those years. In 2008, we picked up Jurrah (instead of Josh Carr, Hayden Skipworth, Chris Johnson-ex Melb, Tom Rockliff, Ben Cousins - these were the only players selected in this draft). Again, I think we have selected well. In that same year, we got Jordie McKenzie at Number 1 in the Rookie draft. Only players of significance (?) from that year would be Jeff Garlett (Carl), Robin Nahas (Rich), Zac Dawson (St K). Good call BP! In 2009 we selected Joel Macdonald at 1 in the PSD, most other players selected in the PSD were wanting to go to other clubs (Bradshaw, McPhee). In closing, I think our recruiting has been spot on over the past 3 years (possibly 2006 as well - didn't go back that far!). As far as potential future stars are concerned, I feel we have picked the best available, and filled needs along the way with these players. Of the players we drafted, we have to ask ourselves would we prefer a player that we picked in that year to be running around for a different club. I think the honest answer would be No! As I said at the top, I'm not really sure why I created this post, and am happy for it to be deleted if it is seen as silly! I was just interested to see where our players are at in regards to personal development compared to who else was available in the same year. We're doing alright!

I too am in SEQ, and it frustrates me too Vagg. Why can't something be done about this? It really is a disgrace.

Not a personal attack on you 13th, but I'm sick to death of hearing this "Garland to forward" attitude. Currently on the ladder, we are ranked 7th in regards to Points Against. For a team that is placed 15th on the ladder, I think this is a great indication as to where our strength is - defense. Why would we want to change that around too much, especially by taking our number 2 or 3 defender out of a role he is performing well in, and putting him up forward as an experiment? Another point we need to think of in regards to our defenders is that, especially over the past month or so, the opposition midfield in most of these games are first class. As a result, the amount of pressure our defenders have been under has been extreme due to the amount of inside 50's our opponents are having. So, because we are in the "top 8" as far as points against goes, I think our defenders are doing a bloody good job. I can see the theory behind trying Garland up forward (immediate KPF), but don't forget, we have drafted a developing midfield and forward line over the past couple of years. Watts has shown glimpses this year, imagine what he will be like with another pre-season under his belt - which hopefully will be his first that is uninterrupted with schooling of injury. We have drafted Kitzpatrick, with the view of him developing in to a big body down there too, then we have Petterd, Sylvia, Green and Jurrah to kick goals also. While I'm not saying we sit back and think we have done a great job, what I'm trying to say is that our defense is one of the best in the league, so why change it? Let's keep that group playing as much footy together as we can so for the next decade, they will be as tight as anything. Today will be the 4th(?) game where Watts and Jurrah have played alongside each other, imagine what that forward line COULD be like once Watts, LJ, Green, Sylvia, Petterd and Tapscott play 20 games with each other. Results might even happen quicker than 20 games - what could it be like with 50+ games?

Sorry RR - maybe if you read my entire paragraph instead of the first line you will see that I was talking about targeting a specific player rather than a specific type of player. I totally agree, the players we have drafted from the picks we obtained in the trade period have turned out very well. Carlton wanted Judd for their midfield, they got him in the trade. Geelong wanted Ottens for their ruck stocks, they got him. In 1997, Melbourne wanted the best ruckman available, we traded picks 2 and 18 for Jeff White. What I am getting at is that we have an obvious need for a younger, proven, ready-made KPF. Let's name him (like I have with Roughead), and go out hard to get him. He would play a huge role in our flag aspirations. Every player has a price - if we can make it attractive enough for Hawthorn without damaging out list, let's do it. Pick 12 and Rivers (for example), maybe Hawthorn can see strong benefits in that deal. I'm not qualified to say what Hawthorn thinks of that deal - AND NEITHER ARE YOU!!! Quality players don't come cheap, but sometimes you just have to pay it.

After watching the pi$$-weak effort against the Crows, and our drop in form over the past 4-6 weeks (with the odd exception), it has got me thinking about what has changed at this great Club. We can put it down to a young list, or the fact that most of the teams we have played in this time are finals bound and we're not, but I would like you to consider this... I have no doubt in my mind that the Club has sat down and worked out how many games we will win between now and the end of the year. My tip is that we will win another 3 games, which will give us 7 and a draw for the year. Reality is, if we were offered 7 wins and a draw at the start of the season (should really have been 9 wins with the losses to the Dogs and Pies), most of us realistic supporters would have grabbed it with both hands. This will see us finishing around 12th (again, something we were happy with at the start of the season), a great improvement for a young, up and coming team, and a great springboard in to season 2011 where 8th spot is a realistic goal. This ladder position will see us with pick 12 (or possibly 10 if we finish 13th), which as we have seen with Gysberts and Grimes, it's still going to be a handy player providing BP continues his good form! Because of this, I think we will see some very interesting, and at times, questionable selections and player positioning. Let's face it, Miller will be gone at the end of the year. It's a respect thing at the moment that isn't costing the Club at this stage. If we were going for a top 4 spot, he wouldn't be in the team, simple. Where it's hard for Bailey is that if he continues to have zero impact in multiple games, the football world will start seriously questioning our tactics by playing him (hence him being named of the extended bench this week). Another move that seems to have gone unnoticed is Jones turning in to a tagger. A great experiment and could really set up NJ's career, especially with a developing midfield. Some weeks he has played well, some weeks he hasn't, again, it hasn't hurt the team one bit in its development. One move I would dearly love to see happen is for Watts to play number 2 ruck for the rest of the year. He has the leap, the motor and the football brain to play this position for a year or two while Gawn is developing. It will get him involved in the game more, and make him play the defensive role more. It will also help him realise he needs to keep his footing! We are lucky we are in the position we are in, otherwise the "Tank" word would have been mentioned after that Crows crap. We have seen our game plan, we have seen it work bloody well, and it has won us games. Yes, we have seen it shutdown, but as the players develop, they will become the dictators of a lot of games. They should become a powerhouse like Geelong are/have been, but let's face it, even the Cats have their game plan stopped at times. As I mentioned above, I think Bailey has marked the games that we will win - it wont be any more than 3, and for the other games, we will probably see some poor performances. Generally a great guide to how serious Melbourne is taking a game is by listening to Garry Lyon on TFS. He knows when we are going to have a crack as he will often pick us against a side that should beat us (the 2 games against Collingwood this year he has mentioned that we are a big chance). At this point in the season, there is no need to bust our guts week after week - it will not achieve anything. For the rest of the year, I think we will see players like Cheney and Strauss get back and hold their spot for bulk games (6-8), and maybe even Tapscott to sneak in and play the last 3. Next year will be a totally different story - a finals birth will be the expectation, and I think that will be the telling factor in Bailey's future. He has deserved his role for 2011. 2010 has shown him who will be the contenders for a best 22 spot, and who are the pretenders. Guys like Bartram and Dunn have probably taken that step up, sadly, Paul Johnson, Newton, Bell, Miller and Maric haven't. I have no evidence to support my views mentioned above, a lot of them aren't ground-breaking statements either, but it will be interesting to see other opinions. Is the St Kilda game one we have circled? Hell, we bloody near did it last year when they were flying and we were "experimenting", what a great way to kick off our 2011 membership campaign with a win this week. We have proven we can compete against the good sides, so who would know??!! Maybe someone can let me know what Lyon said on TFS this week! I am fying back to Vic from Qld this weekend so will be at the game, haven't seen a live win for 5 years so I hope this one is one of the "chosen" ones!

The big problem with a number of players at the moment is when they get dropped, they go back to Casey, work their ass off, dominate (as they should), get back in the senior side, then when that happens, their intensity drops off and so does their form. In other words, they think the hard work is done when they get a game in the 1's. It's good to see the Footy Dept starting to be a bit more ruthless on these types. Morton is a perfect example of my theory - you can bet your house on him starring at Casey, let's see if he improves when he is recalled. Wona is another that had to be dropped because he didn't bring the form and intensity that he showed at Casey in to the senior team. Other blokes that have a habit of it are Miller, Newton, to some degree Watts, Bell, Joel Mac, Rivers (at times), etc. These blokes need to sit down and watch footage of Scully and Trengove's games this year. Those kids work their ass off week after week. While they have had the odd "off" day, it's mainly due to the fact that they have been shutdown by the opposition; they're entitled to as they are first season players.

There will be more outs for sure. Although, there weren't many putting their hands up from the last Casey game. Good to see Morton dropped, one guy who could do with a wake up call IMO.

I would trade this years first round draft pick (which will be approx pick 12 or 14) for Roughead. If the Hawks don't like that, I'd through in a player. It's great to think we could get a great KPF in the draft, but as we know too well with Watts, they do take time to develop. Roughy would slot straight in at FF, has a good 8 years left in him, has a bit of mongrel about him, and will attract the best defenders each week. When you think about it, our trading has been shite in recent years. We have never gone out hard to get our man. While we have obtained the odd player here and there, we have never targeted a high quality player. With the amount of kids we have on our list that we have drafted over the past few years, and especially the amount of first-rounders we have got, I think this year would be a great year to target a ready-made player in the silly season. Should have done it with Mumford last year - how nice would it be having him and Jamar firing? We toyed with the Luke Ball scenario - let's face it, he is probably in the Scum's top 5 this year. We still have the knack of plucking a later round draft pick that goes well, so I'd be sacrificing out forst pick for Roughy.

Todd Viney (if you are meaning the guy with the tunnel ball doing sit-ups).

In the mid-80's, the MFC produced the following production; I think it's time to re-produce this classic using current day players. Before I go any further, this suggestion was mentioned on the Youtube comments section (so I'm not going to pinch someone else's idea), but I think it's something that the Club could do as a great fundraiser. When it was released, I know they sold a number of copies, and would have made a crapload (from memory they charged about $20 or $30 for a video that lasted 3 1/2 minutes! I for one enjoy watching players do stuff outside of their comfort zone, and would certainly buy a copy of this. I'm sure I'm not alone! So, what does everyone think? I'm not really sure who we need to contact to get this rolling, so any help would be great!

I have a copy of "c'mon demons" on VHS. A lot of people on here wouldn't have even heard of it - it was a great production from the mid-80's of a song featuring the players of that time, and some celebrities that are melbourne people. I think you will find it on youtube somewhere - it is quite entertaining! For those younger supporters, there will still be a few familiar faces and some that you have never seen before! Here tis; edit - pasting the link.

I'm no medical or fitness expert RR, and let's face it, you probably aren't either. But, if he is 1 week away from playing football, that means his fitness must be building very nicely. As you stated, and are correct in doing so, he would have no match fitness at all, and for those that have played the game, match fitness is a totally different ball game than anything you can do on the training track. That said, 6 solid weeks at Casey would be a perfect way of getting that match fitness to a level that will be required of him at AFL level. If he can do this is a couple of stints for Casey reserves, then earn a spot in their seniors, play a couple of good games in a row in the seniors, then anything is possible in regards to seeing him in the big league before seasons end. We all know Bailey loves giving a couple of newies a sniff at seasons end. One thing you have to remember with Luke, he's not a kid. He has a man's body, therefore is more likely going to be able to cope with a quicker rise to the top than a scrawny kid who may have been picked up in the same draft as him. My post that you obviously thought was lacking any thought process whatsoever, was directed at the fact that it is possible for Luke to play 1 or 2 games this season. The wishful thinking was in regards to him coming in and playing 2 blinders to snag a late rising star nomination. I'm the first to admit that the odds for Luke getting a game would be high, let alone getting a rising star nomination, but I'm happy to waste $20 of my hard-earned if you want to put up some odds for us hopeful, wishful, mug-punters. I'm more than man enough to put some money on the table, are you man enough to offer up some odds to support your "educated" opinion?

I think they should put Blease in the rack until next year. Another preseason will do him the world of good, especially if he gets started early and they manage him correctly. What's the chances of Tapscott playing a couple of games this year, and by next season have something in common with Jones? I think this kid will hit the ground running, earn a Rising Star nom in the last game, and get nominated again next year! Wishful thinking I know, but think we might have a very good player in L Tapscott.

I'm glad you finished off that post with some reality. "Petterd is worth a top 10 pick"??? You have to be joking don't you? As you said though, we'll be lucky to get a 3rd round pick for him. Regardless of what we think of the criteria, I think the AFL would have that pretty spot on in this case. Nothing against Ricky whatsoever, I too think he is a valuable member of our team, but reality is he would struggle to fit in the top 22 in at least 70% of the Clubs in the league. I'd be satisified if they called him a Category 4 player, I wouldn't be satisified if we lost him. The AFL will not rate players based on potential and what the Club's supporters think of him. Edit - the last parpagraph.

If someone really, really has too much time on their hands, can they report on other clubs and how many nominations they have on their lists? Be interesting to see if we are a standout, or if our numbers are industry standard. One other thing for discussion - people are always talking about our lack of decent facilities playing a big part in the development of our players, but the question I am throwing out there is how much? My personal opinion is that we are using this as an excuse. While it isn't ideal when you compare it to the power clubs, we have had it for many years so why didn't we do something about it? What I mean by that is that while the Junction Oval facilities were very basic, why didn't we use that to our advantage and have a number of state-of-the-art locations across Melbourne. Again, this is not ideal as it could involve splitting the team up at various stages throughout the week (ie. a group of players could be doing rehab in one location, while the other group could be doing weights in another location). I have not seen the facilities at Geelong, but I'm pretty sure they use multiple locations each week. While player development is so important in the quest to win a flag, a lot of it still depends on the success of recruiting. This is just an opinion!

Here's an idea I have just thought of - how about we head-hunt the development coach responsible for Riewoldt's career? Couldn't tell you who it was, but instead of f***ing around with untried blokes like Schwarz, Neitz, etc (as much as I love them to death), get someone down there with a proven record of turning a potential superstar in to a true superstar. Get Neitz or Schwarz down there as a mentor.

I'll give you optimism about our backline Theo, it's called James Frawley. He is going to be a very good full back, and when he has played another season or two, will become that General you are asking for. Will he be as good as Lake? Maybe, I'm pretty sure he'll have Bock covered (almost has now). What you need to remember is that good full backs like what Frawley is becoming are very hard to come by. Scarlett, Lake and Flecthcer are, who else is? And the other thing - teams very rarely have anymore than one standout Full back that plays that General role. We have one, just give the kid time (he's bloody near there). I am sick of hearing people say we need a big key forward, or a big full back, especially when they quote names who would be on our wish list. Name a team in the AFL that wouldn't want Scarlett or Lake. Why would they want to leave their current team let alone come to Melbourne. Comments like this are a quick fix, may show instant results, but for the good of the Club, I'd much rather see Frawley grow in to that role like he is, and spend 8-10 years with us while our window is open, ratehr than hunt a Lake who will only be there for 5 years. And obviously we need a solid KPF, but where are they? What's to say that Jack Watts isn't going to be that big body (continuing the comparison to Riewoldt as far as body development goes)? You never know, Jamar may be that KPF in 3 years time should Gawn make it as a dominant ruck. Anther thing to remember - we will not pick up a KPF of any solid size through the draft system, not one that we can expect to make an impact in his first season. The big one who I think got away was Mumford. We should have worked hard to get him during trade week - ready-made ruck, could free up Jamar to go forward which would give us that big body that we need, still young enough to give us a solid 8-10 years of service. Players like that don't come along in the trade/draft period very often, I feel we missed a massive opportunity there.

While it is great to see Jurrah and Tapscott with 3 and 4 next to their name, do we really think they will be playing senior footy this year? You would think it would take LJ at least 2 in the reserves to get back in to it, Tappy may need 3 or 4, plus they have to perform at this level also. Excited about seeing Gawn being 5 weeks away. Will be great to start reading reports about his progress through the Casey 2's for a start. Highly unlikely to get a MFC call up this year, but will be good to see if he can work his way in to the Casey 1's team before seasons end.

You have hit the nail right one he head - WE DON'T HAVE A COUPLE OF STARS!!! We have potential stars like Scully, Trengove, Grimes, Morton, Gysberts, but we cannot sit here and call Davey, Sylvia, Moloney and Jones STARS. They are good players, some can be very good players for a few games in a row, very rarely can we seriously call any of them genuine stars of the competition. The sooner some of our supporters realise this, the better off they will be. It's because of this that allows other teams, especially those that are better than us, to shut us down so easily. Carlton for example had Carrazzo (?) shut down Davey, Sylvia, Jones and Moloney played well without being influential, and while he was well held for 3 quarters, it was a true star - C Judd, that killed us in the end. Fast forward 2-3 years, all of a sudden we (hopefully) have a group of STARS that will take stopping. If Scully is having an off day, Grimes and Morton are being well held, we still have Trengove and Gysberts who can pull us through. That's a big slap in the face with reality and optimism people, love it or hate it, that's exactly where we stand in 2010.

I don't understand the negativity with Essendon and Collingwood. They both have "away" jumpers - Collingwood normally wear Black with White stripes, their away jumper is White with Black stripes. And Essendon have Black with a Red sash, then their alternative jummper is Red with 2 chuncks of black, one placed over the right shoulder, and the other at the bottom left corner. They own the AFL - we have to live with it!!!!!!